Since our beginnings
in 2000 our Radial has gained ever increasing market acceptance which
translated to steady growth over the past five and a half years.

As sales and
demand for the R2800 engine and associated products increased so did the
need for our production capacity to increase. This growth pattern translated
into Rotec Aerosport commissioning more specialised machinery and associated
technical staff; which by the end of 2004 stretched to the limit the premises
and facilities at the time.

We started
with a couple of machines in 2000 and in less than 5 years now have a
shop full of designated CNC equipment, which in the original premises
almost spilt out the door with not one square foot of floor space in our
original factory wasted.

The
last straw came when we had to pull down our store room to create more
area to assemble engines. We completely ran out of room and it was time
to look for larger premises.

After
much searching and planning we found an ideal premises for relocation.
The facility is 4 times the size of the previous plant and will allow
for growth and expansion for both administration and manufacturing of
the engine, the engine components, parts inventory, assembly, engine testing
including in house dynometer, packing and finally shipping out product.

Located in
DeHavilland Road there is an aviation connection as the road is directly
on the flight path of the main run way of Morrabbin Airport and and can
be considered as being the continuation of the run way.

The move itself
was a daunting undertaking undertaking which began with sorting and packing
all the small items - this was the easy part!

The
big plant and equipment, with its weight, delicate computers and electronics
provided for a logistic nightmare to lift, move and re-install. These
nightmares to date have not completely dissipated for a good nights sleep.

During this
period, and for a short time after, we were occupied in ironing out all
the "bugs". Despite these "bugs" there was only a
minimal disruption to the production schedule. Our decision to move over
the quite holiday or end of year period was justified and
the benefits of the move were apparent immediately with a lift in the
comfort level and a dramatic lift in moral.

R3600
- Rotec's 9 Cylinder Radial:

By mid January
2005 we completed the move and with the additional space began to seriously
contemplate the introduction of a Rotec R3600 a 9 Cylinder Radial engine.

By late January
2005 we had four definite orders for the R3600, with the confidence of
knowing that the 5th Order would be forthcoming, we fully committed to
the first production run of six R3600's (one for Rotec and 5 for Clientele).

The R3600 predominantly
shares existing R2800 componentry but it's still a different beast requiring
separate tooling, parts inventory, assembly, development and testing.
Despite the R2800 and R3600 power-plants being separate entities; in the
majority, parts once machined, can be allocated to either the R2800 or
the R3600.

By June we
had the first R3600 running on a "static" test bed with testing
continuing through to July. The results of this testing provides us with
full confidence in this new power plant.

Please review
all the latest news on the R3600 here
- you'll even find a video clip with sound to show off this awesome piece
of machinery.

We are now
committed to an appearance at Osh 2005 and will unveil the new R3600 at
this fly in; the R2800 will also be there. Paul's looking forward to catching
up with, or meeting up with, all of you that are going to Osh this year

Rotec Aerosport
Pty Ltd would like to thank all its staff, customers and companies for
there commitment and on going support to our company in 2004. In return
we look forward to supplying aviation product of the highest quality for
many years to come.

NOVEMBER
2004 NEWS LETTER

Rotec
would like to apologise for the delay in getting your sent material uploaded
to the project pages. We've finally updated and tidied up the project
pages with a large input of material. Ten pages in all were affected -
some new, some showing good progress and some with exciting news of taking
to the skies with their R2800 equipped craft. We urge all to browse these
pages and as always report back on typos, broken links, spelling mistakes
or any other problems.

Those of you
who have accumulated new material please send it to Jim
now.

The current
production status is at the final stages of a batch run. Assembly of the
engines from this batch has started and the first few engines will be
leaving the factory late next week; thereafter, there should be a stream
of engines leaving the factory to their new owners scattered all round
the world.

The activity
in the last few weeks has been hectic with final checks on all parts,
final arrangements and checks on tooling, making arrangements for packaging
and shipping etc. All this contributing to the delay in getting the web
site updated.

There are still
a few engines left from the current batch so if you need a powerplant
for your project now would be a good time to place your order to not only
avoid delays (the next batch of engines is scheduled for release in April
2005) but to also avoid a price rise that we have scheduled for early
2005.

On the development
front we have just finished design work on the 9 cylinder R3600.

We are now
looking for potential backers to forward order on this engine. We are
looking for 5 clients who are prepared to purchase on the basis 25% deposit
25% half way through the production and 50% (or the balance) prior to
delivery. In return for helping us in this manner the price will be pegged
at $18,750USD Ex Factory and each engine will carry an extended warranty
along with extended factory support. If you are interested in participating
in this exciting new development please contact Jim.

Master Rod

Here is
a quick breakdown on 9 cylinder Rotec Radial:

Diameter
= 850mm (33.46")

Depth the
same as the R2800 = 640mm (25.2")

Modified
prop hub to accommodate the additional power and torque.

Weight to
be determined but calculations show that the weight will fall between
125Kg and 135Kg

HP may be
150+HP (yet to be determined)

Will have
a 3:2 PSRU for additional torque (resulting in 150+HP of usable power
when compared to the output of a "Flat" engine).

Ever increasing
customer demand for the R2800 in recent times has lead Rotec to increase
its manufacturing capability through the introduction of additional CNC
plant to its fabrication shop.

The first of
the two new machines installed and tooled was a Luganamatic Dyna path
20 tool vertical CNC machine centre with a live 4th axis. And the second,
a fully automated 8AGS gear shaping machine. These two machines along
with the employment of additional skilled staff will further reduce the
lead time between batches.

Installation,
commissioning and tooling up of this new equipment took far longer than
anticipated causing delays in the delivery of the current batch. Rotec
Aerosport would like to apologise for delays and advise that all engines
from the last batch are being assemble. Some have already left for their
new homes with the remaining well into assembly and due to be tested and
shipped over the next 2 weeks.

....

Current
batch being assembled

The good news
is twofold: Firstly, we are back on track albeit a month late, secondly;
the new found speed that's now available will enable us to produce in
larger engine numbers per batch with shorter periods between batches.

The next production
run is well under way and is on target for the scheduled completion in
September 2004.

This year Rotec
took enormous strides in its development. Having now reached its fourth
year in production the engine has gained popularity and acceptance far
beyond what we, let alone all the pundits out there, would have expected.
I guess, it’s a testimony to quality of the engine and the care and pride
taken by dedicated professionals who are passionate about their work.

We have made
great contacts this year and have tied in with some fine airframe manufacturers,
aircraft engineers and designers (CIRCA Reproductions of Canada, Flitzer
in the UK, the Hevle Bothers in the USA, Raymond Fowkes of South Africa,
Delome Thierry representing France and the Mascarene Islands, Custom Craft
in the USA and Franklin Aircraft Engines in the USA). We’ll be looking
forward to expanding these horizons even further next year.

All this offcourse
would not be possible without you the client who was prepared to purchase
an engine. A number of you were kind enough to share the experience with
every-one by allowing us to publish your progress on our web page. If
you have a look at the website you’ll see an extensive upgrade in this
area.

There were
many highlights in the year gone by: installation of the new production
equipment, the ever improving sales, and the contacts we made and so on;
but, the highlight that stands out was the PFA report on Les James’s R2800
equipped Kitfox. This report, being the work of an un-biased third party,
goes a long way towards dispelling any doubts about the engine.

Production
Capabilities:

With the introduction
of the new high speed production equipment (see previous newsletter) Rotec
has now dramatically reduced the time span between batches. There is at
the moment a short delay between batches; however, its planned to smooth
out the production capabilities in such a manner as to eliminate the periods
between batches when there’s no stock available. We’ll be testing out
the new methods over the next batches.

New
Products:

The collector
ring is now available with a dual exhaust. Tested by several people, the
reports coming back, were so positive that this may become the standard
configuration. The dual exhaust is located such that all contaminants
(oil and carbon) are directed away from the wheels.

The accessory
gauges are now available in the larger diameter of 3 1/8” at no additional
charge. Orders can contain a mixture of 3 1/8” and 2 ¼” diameter.

Testing
the Engine:

Ground and
flight testing continues and there is little to report as the engine continues
to function flawlessly.

After a great
deal of speculation and correspondence between us and the builders of
vintage aircraft on the subject of the R2800’s capability in swinging
an 84” prop. We at Rotec decided to digress from our normal testing to
see if the R2800 could swing such a large prop. Here are Paul’s comments
on returning back from testing the 84" prop:

The overall
conclusion is that the R2800 achieved the required 1800 rpm target with
comfort.

This was
the sequence: a) we took all the numbers, correspondence on the subject
to our prop maker to make an appropriate 84" prop. b) He delivered the
84" prop with a 44" pitch to us c) we tested it.

The final result
it that the engine spun up to 1800 rpm without any flat spots. There was
some 10% of additional throttle left but the rpm stayed static as this
additional throttle was deployed. There was no excessive heat and oil
was normal at 1800 rpm.

There are additional
considerations:

1. The rpm gauge reads within 100 rpm -so once the 1800
rpm was touched its likely that the real rpm was 1800 to 1899.

2. The test was conducted under static conditions - so it
was the most severe condition under which to conduct the test. Up in
the skies the 1800 rpm would translate into a higher figure. Or another
way to look at it is that the 1800 figure would be attained at a lower
throttle.

3. The test was carried out on a brand new engine; it
would be expected on running the engine in there will be a further improvement.

4. Paul's overall impression was nothing but positive -
the large prop he says "... impressive to look at and even more
impressive once it spun up to 1800 rpm, ... the amount of additional
air flow was so much greater... the engine didn't skip a beat ... "

Despite
no official attendance at Osh the R2800 fitted Autogyro did create a
sensation. The following is an excerpt from Ron Herron's note to us:

I
flew into Oshkosh and also flew a couple of flight demos as well as
running the engine every day for the crowd.

If
you go to the EAA airventure webpage you will see the autogyro doing
a main runway fly-by on Thursday.

I
was interviewed for a feature article in both "Sport Aviation"
and "Custom Planes". I also did a live EAA radio interview
concerning the Rotec engine. Brian did a couple of forums and gave me
a batch of spec sheets to hand out also.
All in all, the engine was a smash hit.

Well
done! Thanks to both Ron and Brian for providing Rotec with much needed
exposure.

Furthermore:
Rotec wishes to congratulate Ron on wining the following award:

Ron
Writes:

Just
a note to let you know that the Rotec/Little Wing won Grand Champion
in Mentone, Indiana at the Popular Rotorcraft International Convention.
You may want to visit *rotorcraft.com*
and see some of the photos posted there. I gave a forum on the engine
also.

You
may want to forward this to your Dad for the website. The "Grand
Champion" award is partially yours! The "Best New Component"
award was for my redundant control system.

Rotec
Tops Budget with Growth Exceeding Expectation:

Since
November of last year sales have taken a dramatic turn upward, so much
so that we've already exceeded the next 12 month's budget.

The
next batch of engines is due for completion and delivery by late August
with all but 4 engines sold. If you are interested in purchasing one
of these 4 please do not hesitate in contacting us immediately.

Rotec
Appoints Agents:

In
line with Rotec's growth we have appointed new agents. The appointments
are: one in Israel, one in the Mascarene Islands (who also has exposure
into France) and two for the USA.

Rotec Purchases High End CNC Equipment:

With
increased pressure on production caused in part by the greatly higher
than anticipated sales figures, and in part by the appointment of the
new agents, Rotec has in the past two months purchased and commissioned
new plant and equipment to cater for the increased demand for the R2800
engine.

Two
new CNC machines made up the bulk of the new purchases. Firstly the
Okuma high speed C-Axis production lathe with a 12 station turret and
secondly, the Makino twin pallet fully automatic machine centre containing
a 60 tool carousel.

The
introduction of the new agents, coupled to the time consuming task of
commissioning and programming the new equipment, along with maintaining
production schedules, has been a Herculean effort on the part of all
Rotec staff. The task is now complete and production speeds have dramatically
increased.

With
the concentration of effort required to accomplish the above tasks Rotec
was not able to have an official presence at Osh 2003 and instead relied
on representation by our Agents. However that was not to be and it was
left to Ron Herron to display his Autogyro fitted with the R2800. We've
also used the advert in Kitplanes to maintain the R2800's presence in
front of you the public. We apologise to all of you that expected to
see us at Osh 2003 - we'll see you in 2004.

Reports
coming back from Osh 2003 have been extremely favorable in praise of
Ron Herron's R2800 Equipped Autogyro and the 2 forums conducted by Brian
Henneman (our Indiana Agent) and Ron Herron respectively. Look out for
more news as it develops.

Rotec
takes to the skies in the UK:

Les James's Red Kitfox has taken to the skies over the UK with PFA approval
eminent. The pilot, a PFA inspector, was most impressed with the performance
of the R2800 fitted Kitfox. For more please refer to Les's page on our
website: http://www.rotecradialengines.com/customers/lesjames.htm